Weekend Race Roundup - April 22, 2013

This weekend was a multisport dream with the return of Alistair Brownlee at the Omegawave World Triathlon San Diego, European champions named in Long Distance and Sprint Duathlon in Horst, and Barbados hosting the Bridgetown ITU Sprint Triathlon Pan American Cup. Here’s your pint sized recap for the hefty event weekend.

Omegawave World Triathlon San Diego
It was the talk of the triathlon town this weekend. Without going into too much detail, here’s a quick recap of how it all went down in San Diego. The women kicked off the action when Gwen Jorgensen ran her way into the history books on Friday, becoming the first U.S woman to win an ITU World Triathlon Series race on the back of a scintillating final leg.

After leaving T2 just over a minute down on the leaders of Emma Moffatt and Sarah Groff, Jorgensen smashed out a 33 minute and 10 second 10km run split to overtake Moffatt with about one kilometre to go. Behind her, Great Britain’s Non Stanford pulled out a last-ditch sprint to claim silver ahead of Moffatt, who had lead for almost all except the final stages of the race.

Great Britain’s Alistair Brownlee hadn’t raced an ITU event since the London 2012 Olympic Games, but the gold medallist showed nothing had changed when he led from start to finish in his 13th ITU World Triathlon Series win in San Diego on Saturday in a performance that was simply breathtaking in it’s complete dominance over a quality field.

Brownlee was second out of the water, stayed in the lead pack of the bike throughout the race and then broke away on the run early on. While initially Portugal’s Joao Silva went with him, he dropped within the first lap and Brownlee kept increasing the gap, to win by an incredible 22 seconds from South Africa’s Richard Murray and Silva, in a total time of 1 hour 47 minutes and 16 seconds. Full men’s and women’s results can be found here.

San Diego also hosted the first ITU Paratriathlon International Event of the season. Close to 50 paratriathletes competing in various categories took to the start line on a stunning San Diego morning for the 2013 San Diego ITU Paratriathlon International Event, with huge crowds watching and cheering them on throughout their race. Read the full recap here.

2013 Bridgetown ITU Sprint Triathlon Pan American Cup
Youngster Amelie Kretz (CAN) continued her strong form this season with a win at the Bridgetown Pan American Cup in spritely fashion. After strong swim and bike disciplines, Kretz hammered home on the quick 5km run to best the field by more than 45 seconds in 1:02:39. Teammate Dominika Jamnicky was next to cross over in 1:03:23. Erin Jones (USA) scooped up bronze 10 seconds after Jamnicky to round out the podium.

The men’s event saw a much tighter race for the podium, with an outright three-man battle for silver and bronze. Barbados’ own Jason Wilson stayed with the lead group on the first two disciplines, which proved a successful race plan as his legs were strong enough to power away from field on the run. Behind him, Michael Poole (USA), Gaspar Riveros (CHI) and Luke Farkas (USA) were engaged in a dead run. It was Poole who eventually found the extra surge to cross over just one second ahead of Riveros and Farkas, while Riveros took bronze in nearly a photo finish. Find full results here.

The athletes didn’t have too shabby a race course either by the looks of it.

2013 Horst ETU Powerman Long Distance and Sprint Duathlon European Championships
Horst was filled to the brim with racing Saturday and Sunday, having welcomed athletes to compete in both the Long Distance and Sprint Duathlon European Championships. Lucy Gossage produced a supreme performance to win the ETU Powerman European Long Distance Duathlon Championship in Horst. The British athlete dominated the race from start to finish and despite a late challenge from Sweden’s Eva Nystrom, a delighted Gossage crossed the line over a minute ahead. Nystrom was secure in second place and 2011 World Duathlon runner up Jenny Schulz claimed her first European Duathlon podium with a third placed finish.

Thanks for the tweets and shouts when i was racing! Great way to start the season. Always enjoy my battles with@evanystromcom

In the women’s Sprint race, Slovakia’s Ivana Kuriackova maintained her fine form in 2013 with victory in the ETU Powerman Sprint Distance Duathlon Championships in Horst. Kuriackova, who claimed victory in Quarteira earlier this month, finished ahead of Great Britain’s Georgina Schwiening and Laura Gomez (ESP).

In the men’s Long Distance race, Bart Aernouts sprinted to victory. The 2010 World Duathlon Champion led home compatriot Rob Woestenborghs in a Belgian one-two as the duo dominated the majority of the race. Switzerland’s Andreas Sutz finished third to complete the podium.

Jorik Van Egdom stormed to victory in front of a passionate home crowd in Horst as he won the ETU Powerman European Sprint Distance Duathlon Championship title. The Dutchman finished ahead of Liam Lloyd (GBR) and Genis Grau (ESP) to claim his first International title after so many heart-breaking near misses.

With a long holiday break for many around the world, it was a light event weekend. South Sumatra hosted the ITU Triathlon Premium Asian Cup, attracting a small, but international field of athletes on Sunday.

Along with the official launch of the ITU triathlon season in Australia, South Africa, Mexico, and the US each hosted ITU events. Check out these quick race recaps to stay in the know on the 2013 triathlon season.